Next to Normal

I don't usually tell people to see a certain musical or a play because I would hate to see them spend X amount of dollars on tickets and then not like the show. HOWEVER, this past Saturday, my Aunt took me to see the Broadway musical, Next to Normal.

Next to Normal was, by far, one of the greatest shows I have ever seen. It's score is incredible, with a hint of rock that keeps you at the edge of your seat throughout the entire show. Not only does the cast captivate you with their incredible voices, the simplicity and the complexity of the set allows your imagination to grow and relate the show to your own life. I cannot allow myself to offer a summary of this musical for you, because I would hate to accidentally include any spoilers, but I strongly suggest anybody who reads this post to see this show.

This musical touched my heart in so many ways, and I was able to relate to so many of the characters. The story is intriguing, the music keeps you singing, and the actors drawn you in. I am including a link to the soundtrack. If you can't afford to see the show, at least spend a few dollars on the soundtrack. You will not regret it.

To leave off with my favorite quote from the show, "Give me pain if that's what's real, it's the price we pay to feel. The price we pay to love is loss, yet still we pay, we love anyway."

James, I hate you.

For those of you who don't know, I am currently in the process of writing a play that is aimed at challenging the  very existence of human morality through several different scenarios.  At this moment, I have only written my prologue and the first three scenes, but so much is more to come.  I plan on occasionally blogging about the play, in case anybody is interested in its progress, so check back more often for updates!

Anyway, my first blog about the play is about the development of one of the main characters, James.  Now, I wouldn't take the time to blog about character development, but I felt the need to in this particular case.

This character is causing me to develop a strong and fiery hatred towards him, and I am the one creating him!

I have always been interested in writing, but have never been able to write much for myself because of the massive amount of writing I had to do for my Bachelor's degree.  With my undergraduate career completed, I decided to write this play; I am beginning to truly see, feel, and understand how difficult it can be to create characters.

James is a Southern politician living in Washington, D.C. with his son, Eric.  He tends to take on extremely conservative views, and discriminates against basically anybody who isn't him.  Eric, however, is the complete opposite.  As one would imagine, James and Eric do not usually get along.  Although I am not going to go into his story just yet, it has been an interesting task to give him dialogue and create his thoughts, as I completely disagree with everything he is doing and saying.  In fact, I am beginning to loathe him.  You would think that my hatred for James would make me shorten his story, but it is doing just the opposite; I can't wait to continue his story.

You may not understand why I am so interested in James as of yet, but once the play is finished, you will understand my fascination with him, and why I hate him so much.

James, I hate you, but I can't wait to keep writing about you.

Journey to 10,000 Pounds

Community service, whether on a local scale or a global scale, has always been extremely important to me.  I know that I will be most likely talking about different service projects I have done in future posts, so right now, I am going to focus on a project that I just started that is running from now until Christmas 2010: "To Fill Another's Closet."

In conjunction with Upbeat Ministry at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Patchogue, NY, I will be running a six month long clothing drive to collect 10,000 pounds of clothes for various shelters across Long Island.  If you were to look through your closet or your dresser right now, I can almost guarantee that you have clothes in there that you've never worn, will never wear again, or have no use for anymore.  Instead of throwing them out, donate them to our cause!  What you MIGHT wear one day is something somebody WILL wear EVERY DAY.  We will be sorting through all of the clothes over the next few months, and then bringing them to local shelters so that the clothes will go straight to use, and not sit in a box in some warehouse.

If you have anything to donate, please let me know!  All donations can be brought to the Rectory of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at 455 North Ocean in Patchogue, New York.  We appreciate any and all donations!

At the moment of this blog posting, we have already collect 450 pounds of clothing!

The first 450 pounds of clothing.  It may not look like much now, 

but wait until a needy family gets access to it!

Please help us to reach our goal!

Dear Lindsay

Although the media has increasingly aggravated me for the past few years with the reports considered to be a top priority for the general population, I have become severely infuriated by the vast amount of coverage surrounding Lindsay Lohan and her sentencing.  For the reason that I do believe every human being should be allowed access to help when needed, I do pray that Lindsay finds her way out of the mess of a life she has created for herself.  Whether she finds it in rehab, or through the comfort of family and friends, I do hope she can better her life.  However, the decisions she has made in her life do not influence mine, nor do I particularly care about them.  

With the world in the current state that it is in, it sickens me that so many people are captivated by celebrity drama when there are so many helpless people that are in desperate need of another's help and attention.  What I know about the Lindsay drama I only know from skimming newspapers or through conversations I have overheard in restaurants and other public places.  Other than what I "learn" from other people, I have no interest in what Lindsay is doing.  Anytime I go out and about Long Island, I spot social injustices that should be covered by the media, but aren't because "nobody would care."  Guess what world, there are people who care.  There are people who want to make a difference.

Did you know that everyday, 5700 people lose their lives to HIV/AIDS?  Right, I forgot, Kanye just accessed Twitter.  Forgive me for my mistake.

Well, did you know that 90,000 people die every year waiting for organ transplants?  Ooops, completely forgot that Tiger Woods got caught cheating.

Alright, one more, any idea that 17 million American children go to bed hungry because of either lack of funds or a lack of access to food?  Or did some celebrity couple just break up?

Correct me if I am wrong, but is it not our duty as human beings to care for those that make up the global community?  To treat every human with dignity, care, and respect?  I do not know where you stand with this, but I find helping others, whether locally or globally, to be much more rewarding than stressing over whether or not Lindsay Lohan will actually serve her sentence.  And I would say that a simple solution would be for people to just turn off their television sets and focus on what really matters, but the media controls so much of our life that we are hit with something trivial everywhere we look!  

My suggestion?  Do your own research on what is happening around you.  Go out and see the world for yourself; stop living through what journalists and news reporters are telling you.  Realize your role in the human race and start doing your part.  The world would be a much better place if people began to focus on what actually matters.  In fact, this wouldn't be such a problem if celebrities backed out of the limelight or used their "time to shine" to discuss important issues, and not who they are currently dating.

I'll leave off with this:

Dear Lindsay,

I mean no disrespect, but get your life together.  I have no sympathy for you.  You live through your fame, if you can even call it that anymore..  You screwed up, and your star status should not grant you a "get out of jail free" card, nor does it mean you are any more important in this global community than I am.  But despite all of your problems, I do not think I am better than you.  Please realize that everything you do is being watched and influencing young children who can easily be swayed to follow your... choice of life.  Step out of the limelight and give it to somebody who needs it.  Millions of people are going to die today because of various wars, illnesses, etc.  You, and every other celebrity who cannot seem to get their life together, would be making a great difference if you stopped trying to get the world to care about your trivial matters.  Lindsay, I'll pray for you, but start thinking of the rest of the world and the people whose survival depends on their fifteen minutes of fame.  Turn your life around, and help others to do the same.  Stop complaining that you have to go to jail or to rehab, because, even if you do not see it, there are millions of people who have it worse than you.  Stop looking for pity, grow up, and fix yourself.

-Billy  

Hey World, It's Me!

Hello!  If you've come across this blog, you probably already know who I am.  If not, the name's Billy and I have a little obsession with the written word.  Whether I am writing to inspire, to entertain, or to allow my creative juices to flow, I have always found comfort in taking a pen to a piece of paper and allow the ink to give life to something incredible with every movement of my fingers (or in this case, the flow of my taps on the keys in front of me).

After being freed from my undergraduate career a few months ago and obtaining my long sought after Bachelor of Arts in English, I have decided to create this blog so I can actually write something for myself, rather than for my professors, some of which required a ridiculous amount of analyzing and writing.  Whether I was critiquing "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," fighting with "Beowulf," or becoming entrapped within the text of Sarah Ruhl's "Passion Play," I have spent the past four years writing for others, with no chance of expressing myself.

As life progresses, I will use this blog to write!  Whether you'll be reading my thoughts, charities that I have fallen in love with, hearing about the play I am currently working on, or just whatever I feel like writing down, this blog will become my way of expressing myself to the world.  You might find some entertainment from the stories I decide to write down, or even become inspired by the charity work I am doing, or that others are doing.  You might even, if you choose, be able to track the progress of the play I am currently working on.  If you have the time, why not follow me?  You'll never know what you will walk away with.  :-)

I guess that's enough for my introduction for now.  Anyway, hey world, it's me!